The Main Character (Madason)

The Hero of Dragon Quest V, though not The Chosen One. The only son of Pankraz and Mada, he has been traveling around the world with his father for as far back as he can remember. Possesses a natural touch with monsters, managing to earn their trust and loyalty with surprising ease.

Chick Magnet: He can marry one of three different women, and various other NPC's have shown an interest in him, to boot.

Decoy Protagonist: Played With. He's The Hero, but the actual Chosen One is his son. Slightly averted in that the son's stats, like those of all the other human characters, are dismal compared to the protagonist's.

Heroic Mime: Played straight, but also played with: You get to hear two sides of the same conversation at one point, making clear that a simple Yes/No prompt on one side doesn't equate the hero saying just Yes or No.

Heroes Prefer Swords: Played with. He can wield some of the swords, but not the legendary one. Averted in that his weapon in artwork, as well as his implied "personal" weapon towards the end, are both magic wands, and played straight because he is one of many characters that can equip the game's strongest weapon, the Metal King Sword. His personalized strongest weapon, though, is the Dragon Staff.

Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Prince Harry. The Hero helps him take his kingdom back and marry the love of his life and in turn Harry is always willing to aid him in whatever way he can. This is further proven when the Hero invites Harry to be the best man at his wedding and when Harry orders a worldwide search for the Hero when he goes missing.

Hypercompetent Sidekick: His son is the chosen one, making him the true hero of the story, but the main character's certainly no slouch when it comes to battling evil and every Kid Hero could do with having a mentor.

Improbable Age: Begins his adventuring under the player's control at six. Prior to this, he's been traveling around with his father for basically his entire life.

In-Series Nickname: In the DS version's party chat, he tends to have different nicknames based on your bride of choice or other characters in the game.

It's Personal with the Dragon: Beyond saving the world, his primary motivation is to avenge his father's death by killing Ladja, who he encounters several times throughout his life, each time making their feud even more intense. In comparison, he only encounters both Korol and Nimzo once before their respective deaths.

The Stoic: Implied to be a rather serious, somber person through other character's dialogue, and is generally always shown with a rather grim expression on his face in artwork. Considering his life though, this is completely justified.

The Unchosen One: Although the player character of Dragon Quest V wasn't actually "The Legendary Hero" of folklore, he was still the driving force behind the eventual defeat of Grandmaster Nimzo and his cronies. Ironically, you don't even have to bring the real hero along!

Parents of The Hero

Pankraz (Papas)

A powerful warrior and the village chief of Whealbrook, Pankraz has spent the last several years of his life searching for answers, as well as for the Zenithian equipment and The Chosen One capable of wielding it. He's brought his young son along on this journey, though he feels some guilt about this.

Badass: He's your dad! The game does a very good job juggling Pankraz's badassitude without ever overshadowing your character.

Crutch Character: By far and away the most powerful character introduced until maybe halfway into the game. Will easily One-Hit Kill any monsters when he's in your party. He beat two bosses on his own. Without breaking a sweat.

Family-Unfriendly Death: After defeating two of the Big Bad's henchmen, he is then forced to stop because the Big Bad uses well... YOU as a shield. After taking a lot of blows from the henchmen in an uneven rematch (even though he just stands there without defending himself, it takes them a while to kill him because he's just that strong), he is then Kafrizzled to ashes, all in front of his son.

Only One Name: Subverted at least in the English script, despite being from a series where this trope is very common. Of course, his last name (Gotha) is only mentioned when he's telling some guards who he is.

Papa Wolf: God help you if you touch a hair on his son's head and he knows about it. Nothing less then the Big Bad pulling a Diabolus ex Machina will save you. This makes sense since his son is all he has left of his wife.

Retirony: Before traveling to Coburg, he mentions that once his business there is finished, he plans on settling down for a bit to let his son enjoy his childhood.

Bianca Whitaker

Daughter of the Roundbeck innkeeper, Bianca is the main character's childhood friend, and two years older than him (as she's very quick to remind him). A complete Tomboy as a child, she does her best to keep a positive attitude no matter how terrible things seem.

Implied Love Interest: Most official media features her more heavily than the other girls, and use her son and daughter for the promotional artwork. Even the official cover art has Bianca and the children sharing her hair color. The story itself also nudges to player into choosing her as the bride as well. Not to mention, Bianca is a reoccuring party member even before the wedding event, so most players have alredy grown accustomed to having her in the party by then.

Nera Briscoletti (Flora)

Rodrigo Briscoletti's beloved younger daughternote originally his only child prior to the DS version. Nera is a model maiden: demure, compassionate, good with children and animals... After completing her 'domestic goddess training' at the Heavens Above Abbey, she'll be ready to marry whoever can win her father's favor.

Badass Adorable: Is the latter from the get go and begins gaining points in the former if chosen.

Forgotten First Meeting: First met the hero as a child when she was helped onto her father's ship by the hero's father Pankraz. Nera only makes the connection if she was chosen as the bride via Party Chat in Littlehaven or after talking to the ship's captain.

Good Bad Girl: Implied during banter; when a NPC notice some scratches on the NPCs back, Nera sheepishly admits that she's responsible for them.

Meaningful Name: Her original name is of course representative of the idea that she is a delicate flower (at first). Her name in the US version is intended to contrast with Bianca's; it is the feminine form of "Nero", which is Italian for "black", whereas Bianca means "white".

The Medic: Learns Midheal. Just Midheal... but she is still the only bride to learn any healing magic.

Squishy Wizard: The most magic-oriented of all the brides, with the largest selection of spells.

Debora Briscoletti (Deborah)

Nera's temperamental older sister, Debora never bought into that whole 'lovely and demure' crap. For her, it's all about doing as she pleases and getting everything she wants. Her parents have basically given up on ever seeing her married, focusing on their more obedient daughter instead.

Drop the Hammer: There aren't really that many hammers in the game, but Debora is the only bride who can equip them. This includes the Hela Hammer, a half-cursed hammer that misses half the time, and invariably critical hits all the rest. It's useful for taking out Metal Slimes.

As just one example of how subtle it gets: the evening before the bride choice, one NPC mentions that this is just as heavy a situation for Bianca and Nera as it is for Madason, and they must be up fretting too. Check on Bianca and, and sure enough, it's true... but then Nera is, rather famously, snoozing away. Debora is the one wide awake, and gets quite flustered when you speak to her, especially if you feign non-interest in her. Even then, it seems she loves Madason but can't bring herself to admit it.

It's All About Me: Why everyone has given up hope of her getting married by the time you arrive. Even after you marry her she still qualifies.

Lady of War: Far more of a physical fighter than the other brides (to the point that she gets an exclusive weapon type which are also the strongest double-attack weapons in the franchise), and doesn't learn as many spells, though the ones she does get still synergize well with her ability to crush enemies flat.

Love at First Sight: If chosen, reveals this during a Party Chat shortly before challenging the final boss.

Messy Hair: Her hair goes everywhere, ponytail be damned. It's more of a mane than anything.

My Friends... and Zoidberg: Subject to this at times from her own father, such as when she inserts herself into the engagement challenge right at the end.

My Goddess, You Are Serious: Her father's reaction should you marry her. Of course, he throws his full support behind the wedding, and after the wedding, he confesses you've made him very happy, as he'd given up any hope of Debora getting married long ago.

Obfuscating Vanity: ...Maybe. Almost certainly, if the ending and certain hints throughout the game are anything to go by.

Wolverine Claws: Starts out with Akillics, which can hit twice in one turn (and unlike most double-hit weapons, these have a pretty generous attack bonus). A second set, the Diamond Akillics, serve as one of her "best" weapon options.

Innocent Prodigy: Talented and knowledgeable mage capable of considerable insight, particularly when compared to her brother, and likely to become an experienced adventurer... while retaining her fear of heights and the dark, her naivety, and her childish innocence.

Weapon of Choice: Notably goes all over the place — Her spellcasting would suggest that she favors staffs, but her sprite carries around a rapier-style blade, and she can also use whips with ease. Her original SNES sprite did show her holding a staff at all times, though.

Harmful to Minors: Poor kids have to deal with a lot, being adventurers at their age. The remakes drive this home with Party Chat; some of what they say after certain traumatic events is just heart-wrenching.

Hero of Another Story: Party chat will reveal that the twins spent a long time looking for their mother and father. So much so that one can roughly piece together where they went and what they did before arriving at the Porgie residence.

Improbable Age: They start adventuring with their father at the tender age of eight, much like Bianca.

Meaningful Name: Their default names are partly derived from their grandparents on their father's side: Pankraz -> Parry and Mada -> Madchen.

Pink Girl, Blue Boy: Parry's outfit is entirely blue, while Madchen wears a dark pink/purple cape, and official art shows her white robe has a very light pinkish tinge to it.

Sibling Yin-Yang: Mostly averted, but there is one example: Parry loves heights while Madchen is afraid of them.

Strong Family Resemblance: Both are compared to their father more than their mother. Parry's happy with this; Madchen is more disappointed that she isn't told she resembles her mother more often.

Superpowerful Genetics: Parry is the Legendary Hero; Madchen has inherited a host of evil-sensing powers from her grandmother. Both learn plenty of powerful spells, including several not learned by either parent.

Mr. Whitaker (Duncan)

Bianca's father, who runs the Roundbeck Inn with his wife. Better known by his nickname 'Whitey'.

Ill Guy: He's always sick, recovering from being sick or coming down with a new sickness. Taking care of him is the reason that Bianca can't be an adventuer, as much as she'd like to. Before you come along at least.

Nice Guy: Is a Shipper on Deck for the main character and Bianca but understands why the wouldn't marry her in the remakes.

Rodrigo Briscoletti (Ludman)

Nera and Debora's doting father, and the richest man in Mostroferrato. To try and ensure that Nera marries somebody fully capable of taking good care of her, he sets up an Engagement Challenge. Usually jovial, with an open mind and open heart; however, he's also somewhat of a traditionalist, and has a major stubborn streak — once he's got his mind set on something, nothing can dissuade him.

Chekhov's Gunman: Particularly if you marry Bianca, he's introduced as another one of the many NPCs the Hero has to deal with to get an item he needs, in this case the Zenithian Shield. Then you have to help him seal away the ancient evil his ancestors fought in order to get the Ultimate Key. Lessened considerably if Nera or Debora is your wife, where he'll remain a somewhat important NPC throughout due to being your father in law.

Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: He may not look it, but the Engagement Challenge the Hero is forced to participate in is said to be what he did to win the hand of his wife, meaning he scaled the inside of a volcano. He shows some of this side once Bjorn gets unsealed.

Doting Parent: Well, towards Nera at least. He has given up hope for Deboria.

Passive-Aggressive Kombat: If you pick Bianca in the DS version, he says that he's not surprised by your decision, that you're a sensitive man, and that you must've realized that Nera would've been humiliated if you'd picked Debora over her. If you read between the lines, he's blaming Debora's surprise toss of her own hat into the ring for Nera not getting chosen. Yowch!

Sealed Evil in a Can: His ancestor sealed away a monster in the past and it is his duty to make sure it stays sealed.

Self-Made Man: He's descended from a line of sages, but his wealth is all his own.

Sins of Our Fathers: An ancestor of his sealed away a great evil, but the seal is due to break... ohhh, fairly soon. And the monster's going to be maaaaaddd...

Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: His wife is considered to be very beautiful, though Rodrigo is kind, charismatic and rich, so there marriage isn't that unbelievable. Also, he apparently went through quite a lot to win her hand in marriage.

If you marry one of his daughters, he will lavish gifts on you throughout the game. Even if you don't and choose Bianca instead, he'll still pay for the wedding and bridal veil, let you sleep at his casino for free, and even put his ship at your command just like he did for your father at the beginning of the game.

He's also just a nice guy and is renowned in the setting for generosity and for giving a sizable chunk of his wealth to charity. He gets most of that money from owning a casino resort, so he's probably a pretty fun guy too.

Romana Briscoletti

Rodrigo's loving wife, who does her best to reign in his stubborn streak. Very proud of her dear Nera; her other daughter...? Not so much.

Absurdly Youthful Mother: Apparently looks very good for a mother of two. Nera and Debora aren't biologically hers, but she still has to be around fifty.

Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: She's stated to be quite a looker, though Rodrigo has plenty of other desirable qualities that make him a good partner.

Close Family Friends

Saber (Borongo)

A great sabrecat that the main character and Bianca meet and befriend as a young cub. The very fact that they were able to tame it so easily shocks many others, as sabrecats have a nasty reputation. Has many possible names.

But Thou Must!: You don't get to insert a name for it; instead, Bianca runs through a list of names for you to pick from. note Your choices are, in order: Saber, Leo, Spot, Mohicat, Tom, Purrcy, Moggy, Punk, Pyjamas, Baumren. Four of those names come from a book in the Roundbeck inn, while the name Baumren is a reference to a sabrecat in Dragon Quest VIII.

Cute Kitten: As a cub. People are shocked that Sabrecats can even be tamed.

Puzzle Boss: Make sure the main character has Bianca's Ribbon in his inventory before fighting it, then use the Ribbon as a battle item to jog its memory. Without this, it absolutely cannot be beaten.

Drop the Hammer: Is the only human character who can equip hammers if Debora is not chosen.

Honorary Uncle: First to the main character, then to Parry and Madchen as well.

Mighty Glacier: Sancho has great attack, health and defense but is incredibly slow and has very specific equipment options.

Modern Minstrelsy: Portrayed in the English translation of the DS game as a rather wince-worthy European Spanish stereotype, complete with constant references to siestas, paellas and tortillas and random "sí"s, "olé"s and "anda"s for no reason.

Nice Guy: Sancho doesn't have a bad bone in his body. The only character he's ever shown getting mad at is Ladja, for good reason.

Nice Hat: In the original. Gone in the remake, though he does mention that he likes hats.

Undying Loyalty: Towards Pankraz, you, and later your wife and kids. Hence why he beats himself up so badly after Pankraz dies and you go missing. When you find him again in chapter 2 he is a nervous wreck. He recovers somewhat before you and your wife go missing again. However, he finds an outlet raising your kids and in chapter 3 he is every bit as loyal to you as he ever was to Pankraz.

Tuppence (Pippin)

The son of Thruppence, Tuppence is a soldier who's eager to help the main character and the kids during their travels. Has the potential to become a truly powerful warrior, but starts out untrained and rough around the edges.

Age Lift: Looked to be around thirty in the original version of the game, while in the remake he is specifically stated to be about the same age as the Hero when he's recruited.

Badass Normal: The only human character with no magic, though he has good stats and equipment options.

Bromantic Foil: Functions as one to the Hero, despite him already being married by the time Tuppence is recruited.

Casanova Wannabe: Tuppence loves the ladies... the ladies just don't love him back.

Chekhov's Gunman: He first appears as a generic young boy in Gotha's inn during the second part of the game. Because the player character doesn't age during the timeskip, by the end of it they're about the same age.

Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Generally more focused on women than anything else, and can be pretty spiteful to the Hero about his luck with women, despite him being his king. But beneath this, Tuppence proves to have a strong sense of justice and a genuine desire to bring peace to the world.

Lightning Bruiser: Tuppence has great stats all around and access to almost all equipment. His one huge flaw is his complete lack of any magic power. And he starts at level one.

Undying Loyalty: As soldier of Gotha, he is duty bound to be this to his king, you. He'll still snark about it though.

You ALL Look Familiar: In the original, he has the same sprite as a normal soldier. The DS remake gives him a unique look, but it's still very similar to the soldier sprite.

With Friends Like These...: Tends to be unusually rude to his king, to the point of planning to steal his wife from him after he dies. He does respect him as a leader though, he's just envious of his skill with the ladies.

You Gotta Have Blue Hair: In the original, his pink hair was the only interesting thing about him. Averted in the remake where he has plain brown hair.

Realm of the Faeries

Honey (Bella)

A mischievous, cheerful faerie sent to recruit a great warrior from the human world. She brought back a six-year-old main character.

Bad Liar: Her reaction to learning Saber is a sabrecat kitten, among others.

Demoted to Extra: Despite being a party member for a small portion of the adventure, Honey does little else for the rest of the game.

Dwight Dwarf (Zaile)

Also known as "Da White Dwarf!" His father created "Lots About Locks", a book that lets the bearer become a Master of Unlocking. Because of this, he was banished from Faerie Lea by Treacle's predecessor. However, Dwight believes Treacle was the one responsible, and has set out to take revenge. Fancies himself a great superhero, so he wears a hooded cape and calls himself "Da White Dwarf!"

Boisterous Weakling: For all of his talk, Dwight gets beaten relatively easily by a young boy. And when they meet up again years later, he's no stronger than he was before.

Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Dwight is introduced as an idiot who gets beaten by a six year old. When the Hero reunites with him at least twenty years later... he's still level one. However, at higher levels Dwight proves to be a formidable fighter with good stats and access to some nice magic.

Just Like Robin Hood: Seems to be his thing, considering he steals a book about lock picking and opposes a "tyrant". When he joins the party, the first ability he larns is Nose For Treasure, furthering his image as a thief.

Magikarp Power: When he joins the party, it's pretty late in the game and the rest of the party will likely be around level thirty compared to his level one. his stats are also pretty low. However, he has a crazy high agility growth and will likely cap his speed far earlier than every other character, and afterwards will have a sudden surge in stat gains for his other attributes, to the point where he'll end up a Lightning Bruiser at higher levels. To top this all off, he learns some very nice all purpose spells leveling up and is generally a very versatile teammate.

Master of Unlocking: Implied to be, considering his dad is a master locksmith and that he stole a book about lock picking.

Miles Gloriosus: Considers himself a revolutionary super hero, despite just being a level one dwarf with his facts mixed up. When the party meets him again he considers himself to be both The Rival and The Lancer despite being... a level one dwarf.

Unknown Rival: Considers himself Treacle's arch nemesis, while she is barely aware of his existance. After the timeskip, he considers himself the Hero's rival, despite being some nobody he beat up when he was six.

Prince Harry (Henry)

The heir-apparent of King James, and a complete Royal Brat who enjoys tormenting others simply because he can. However, he soon receives a very rude, very harsh awakening...

Asshole Victim: At the end of the first generation, he plays this fully straight; after the timeskip, he changes his mood and tells the player that it was Pankraz's parting words that started his change in tone.

The Atoner: Justifiably blames himself for Pankraz's death and has sworn to help his son no matter up to make up for it. He lives up to his word.

Bash Brothers: With the Hero during the first part of his journey in adulthood, after they go their separate ways he still shows an interest in tagging along and continuing this, but is too caught up in his duties to do it.

Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The foolish sibling to Wilbur's responsible sibling. Ironically, after his character development, Harry has become much more competent and responsible than Wilbur has.

Fire-Forged Friends: As children, he does nothing but bully the main character but after Pankraz's death the two are forced to spend the next ten years working as slaves. This, combined with his guilt over Pankraz's death causes Harry to act much kinder to the main character and the two proceed to pull a prison break and travel the world together. Even after they go their separate ways, the bond of friendship between them runs strong to the point where Harry makes his entire kingdom go searching for the main character when he goes missing.

Freudian Excuse: His mother passed away and was replaced by the Queen Consort, who is more interested in caring for her own son than for him. Of course, as Pankraz points out, his father, unlike his stepmother, does care about him, and would be terribly upset if anything happened to him.

Generation Xerox: His own son, Prince Kendrick, takes after him, despite Harry's insistence that he doesn't know where he gets it from. However, he also gets somewhat stronger discipline.

Heterosexual Life-Partners: Though he only travels with him for a section of the game, Harry and the Hero have an unbreakable friendship that continues for the rest of the game. When the Hero is turned to stone, Harry organizes a worldwide search to find his friend.

Hypercompetent Sidekick: As Wilbur's adviser, it's clear that he's the one running the kingdom. He doesn't have a problem with it though.

Irony: After tormenting everyone and trying to make you into his "Lacky", he is then kidnapped and turned into a slave.

It Amused Me: Teases and torments others... why? He's the prince, of course!

The Lancer: To the main character, even when they're not travelling together it's clear Coburg will always have Gotha's back.

Survivor Guilt: Admits in a secret message that he struggled with this, wondering why he lived instead of Pankraz, though it does end up making him into a better person and ultimately the Hero's best friend.

The Unfavorite: Wilbur is clearly favored over him by the Queen, while James is far too caught up in his work to pay much attention to either.

Minor Major Character: Doesn't get much screen time, but the mission he sends Pankraz on ends up killing him off and throwing Harry and the Hero into slavery. His death during the timeskip also causes the power struggle that sparks one of the first major plots of the game's second act.

Queen Consort

Hoist By Her Own Petard: After successfully having Harry kidnapped, she is betrayed by her 'allies' and is replaced by a fake queen, turning her son into their puppet rather than her own. By the time the party comes across her years later, she's willing to immediately confess to everything just to put an end to it.

Prince Wilbur (Dale)

Harry's younger half-brother. Despite his mother's ambitions, he has no real interest in taking the throne, and would rather be just a normal kid.

A Child Shall Lead Them: Takes over for King James after the latter's death at the ripe old age of 5. Ultimately subverted, however, as Wilbur proves to be as competent of a leader as you'd expect a little boy to be, and is clearly just a puppet for his mother. Later on, while he continues to rule, it's pretty clear Harry's doing most of the work for him.

Bishōnen: After the timeskip, he's noted to be very popular with his female subjects.

The Dutiful Son: Takes over Coburg after his stepfather's death and continues to follow his mother's orders to the letter, despite how evil they may be in contrast to Harry, who willingly turns against his kingdom for a period of time for the sake of doing what's right.

Fake Ultimate Hero: A rare sympathetic example, the Queen works hard over the timeskip to build up Wilbur's reputation and is thus seen as the clear candidate to take the throne after the king's death. However, these claims are all baseless and Wilbur is a completely talentless ruler, though he redeems himself due to clearly not wanting any part of the scheme whatsoever.

Reasonable Authority Figure: Despite his lack of talent or desire for his position, Wilbur is at the very least as kind and courageous as his brother becomes and provides the hero with any help that he can supply.

Count Uptaten (Eric) and Miss Count (Sophia)

Once a happily married couple, their lives were tragically cut short when monsters raided their castle and slaughtered everyone inside. However, their sad tale did not end there... Thanks to the interference of some nasty spirits, they have been unable to move on to the afterlife.

Spot of Tea: One of their favorite pastimes in life was drinking out of the Toff's Tea Set. The main character can eventually return it to them in exchange for a reward, though it takes several years before Uptaten happens to ask.

Monty the Monster Monitor (Monster Gramps)

An elderly fellow whose has an expert hand with monsters, and encourages others to pursue the fine art of monster training. Recommends to the main character that he get a wagon to make traveling easier, and helps him out by caring for any monsters he isn't taking along with him at any given moment.

Crispin Burns (Andy)

A childhood friend of Nera, he becomes one of her most dedicated suitors. Though he doesn't consider himself truly worthy of somebody so wonderful, he's determined to do his best to become worthy, and earn her love...!

Butt Monkey: Constantly getting friend-zoned his entire life and ends up getting burned alive. Most of the townspeople also talk bad about him behind his back. He does get thrown a bone no matter who you pick, marrying his lifelong crush Nera if Bianca or Debora is chosen or falling for and marrying the equally beautiful Ashlee if Nera is chosen.

Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: For all of his foppishness, Crispin makes it farther than every other candidate during the Engagement challenge, and though he loses to the main character, if Bianca was chosen he attempts it again for no reason beyond proving his worth to Nera.

Determinator: Manages to make it towards the end of the Engagement Challenge through his love for Nera alone. If he loses but Nera isn't chosen as the bride, he'll scale the volcano again just to prove himself.

Graceful Loser: Completely steps down and allows the Hero to marry Nera after he wins the Engagement Challenge and, if the Hero actually goes through with it and marries her, will be happy for the two of them and find love with another woman.

Happily Married: No matter who you choose to marry, he'll end up like this. Either to Nera (Bianca or Debora) or to the beautiful foreigner Ashlee (Nera).

Meaningful Name: From his name alone, you can pretty much guess that his trip into the volcano doesn't end well.

Nice Guy: Clearly holds no ill will towards the Hero, despite him being his biggest rival for Nera's heart and potentially taking her away from him.

Non-Action Guy: Mocked by the townspeople as being one, and admits himself to being "A lover, not a fighter". And yet proves to be capable of making it to the center of a volcano by himself.

Second Love: If Nera is chosen, then he will meet and fall in love with the beautiful dancer Ashlee and later on in the game get married to her. Things seem to work out pretty well for him no matter what.

Queen Cleohatra (Isis)

The ruler of the desert kingdom of Helmunaptra, she is descended from one of the previous Legendary Hero's companions. Cleohatra protects the Zenithian Helmet while awaiting the arrival of the Legendary Hero.

Famous Ancestor: She doesn't say which of the Hero's companions is her ancestor, but the abilities of her lineage would seem to imply that it's Meena.

Dr Agon (Pusan)

A strange, old fellow found trapped in a dungeon. Extremely cheerful, but a tad... loopy. Has a very strange way of speaking. Claims to be Zenithian.

The Ageless: Doesn't seem to be any older after spending twenty years in a mine cart with no food or water. Since he's god, it doesn't really matter to him.

Character Development: In the years since Dragon Quest 4, the Zenithian Dragon has mellowed out, lost most of his Holier Than Thou attitude, and found a new admiration for humanity - which is why he created the Dr. Agon identity and went to visit the earth in the first place.

Time Abyss: He tells you outright in party chat that's he's lived a thousand times longer than anyone in the party and laughs when they react skeptically to it.

Trickster Mentor: For the period of time he travels with the party, he gives the Hero and his children some surprisingly specific advice, and is later revealed to have been clearly trying to guide the Chosen one's through their personal hardships so that they can better fight evil.

Grandmaster Nimzo (Mildrath)

The Demon Lord of the Dark World, and the "god" of the Order. He seeks to take over the Light World.

The Backwards R: In the American release his text has a Cyrillic-looking font.

Bad Boss: He demands absolute obedience and perfection from the Order, and will not tolerate any form of failure. King Korol finds this out the hard way.

Bigger Bad: Nimzo is indisputably the ultimate evil of the game, but Ladja has far more Kick the Dog moments as well as a history with the Hero, making him closer to the game's main antagonist.

Chekhov's Gunman: In the original version a couple of NPCs mention a Demon Lord that's trying to enter the world, though you don't even learn his name until near the end of the game. The DS remake adds more information.

Chess Motif: In the official American realease, he is named after a Chess grandmaster, and his minions are named after chess pieces.

The Remnant: He is heavily implied to have been a follower of Aamon from Dragon Quest IV who managed to complete his master's goal of achieving godhood through the secret of evolution.

Sealed Evil in a Can: He basically can't leave the Demon World. He captured the hero's mother in order to fix this.

Was Once a Man: In one of the biggest late game twists, Nimzo is revealed to not actually be an almighty demon god, but rather a regular man who simply achieved pseudo-godhood through perfecting the secret of evolution that Psaro and Aamon were trying to achieve in Dragon Quest IV

You Have Failed Me: He leaves King Korol to die after he's mortally wounded by the party. The DS version makes it even worse.

Bishop Ladja (Gema)

Nimzo's right hand man. He oversees the Order's operations in the Light World alongside King Korol. He is also easily the most evil character in the game.

Arch-Enemy: To the Hero, whose life he destroyed. It becomes mutual later in the game.

Breakout Villain: In the SNES original, he was still a presence but ultimately a lackey, didn't have a unique appearance, and gets chumped about two-thirds of the way through the game. In the DS remake, he's been upgraded to the full-blown right hand of Nimzo himself, and is a complete monster throughout the entire game, largely due to his popularity as a villain in the original and fans asking for him to have a larger role.

The Dragon: In a way to both Korol and Nimzo. While he is actually below Korol in rank, he is one of the only members of the order with contact with Nimzo. His loyalties with Korol also prove nonexistent as he immediately kills him the moment he loses his usefulness.

Dragon-in-Chief: While Korol is the High Priest of the Order, Ladja very much gives off the impression that he is the true force behind it and is thus the direct antagonist for most of the game. This is further proven when he effortlessly destroys Korol after he fails his mission.

The Heavy: Though he's The Dragon, Ladja is by far the biggest presence of evil felt in the game and the only one with any real connection with the Hero.

Hopeless Boss Fight: The first one against him. Justified, considering you're a six year old child at that point.

No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: He has absolutely no reservations about beating two six year old children nearly to death. In fact, he seems to enjoy it. He'll spend a few turns just standing around laughing at you before he gets around to slaughtering you.

Yank the Dog's Chain: Combines this with one of his beloved Player Punches near the end when he blasts Mada right after she and the main character reunite, then mocks both of them about it.

Subverted when it turns out she survived the attack.

Double subverted when Grandmaster Nimzo finishes the job.

King Korol (Ibuul)

High Priest of the Order of Zugzwang. Over the years, he works tirelessly to establish the Order as a Path of Inspiration, promising that they will lead the world to a new age of peace in the White King's Paradise. Their actual plans, of course, aren't quite so... nice.

The Dragon: While he's head of the Order of Zugzwang, he's still second to Grandmaster Nimzo, the "God" of the order.

Disc One Final Boss: More like a disc two final boss, but the game still has quite a bit left after beating him.

Humiliation Conga: First the party attack the Order's main base in the Light World, then they wipe out his defenses, including Queen Ferz. When he himself fights the party and is defeated and dying, he begs Nimzo to strike the party down, but Nimzo abandons him for his failure, leaving him to die in shame. Made even worse in the DS version, where not only does Nimzo abandon him, but he also sends Ladja to tell him exactly why he sucks and then execute him.

Minor Major Character: Despite being the head of the organization responsible for literally every problem in the game, the main character only meets Korol once, and after which his entire presence becomes overshadowed by Ladja's.

Kon the Knight (Jami) and Slon the Rook (Gonze)

The Dividual: Not particularly different from one another and only ever seen apart during their respective final battles. The biggest differences between them are that Slon is really stupid and that Kon like to make horse puns.

Dumb Muscle: Both of them, though Slon is considerably dumber than Kon is.

Community

Tropes HQ

TVTropes is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available from thestaff@tvtropes.org. Privacy Policy